Category: Episodes

Stars End S6E05

Join us as we talk about Foundation, S3E04, “The Stress of Her Regard.” It’s an episode so big, so intense, and so seismic that it’ll take FOUR of us to talk about it!

“The Stress of Her Podcast”

In 1893, Nikola Tesla invented an ⁠earthquake machine⁠! Legend has it that by 1898, the machine was so powerful that neighbors called the police, afraid that Tesla’s laboratory was about to shake itself apart!

If you want to wreak that much havoc in the Foundation Universe, you ask Roxann Dawson to direct an episode! Hoo doggy, is this one a humdinger!

We’re joined by Joel McKennon of the Seldon Crisis Podcast as we break down this earth-shattering, paradigm-shifting, and mind-blowing installment!

Don’t miss this one! The entire galaxy might be trying to shake itself apart!

Stars End S6E04

We discuss Foundation, S3E03, “When a Book Finds You.”

“When a Podcast Finds You.”

Now, you may find yourself grooving in a Kalgan rave.

Or, you may find yourself with an intuitive giraffe.

Or, you may find yourself in the stacks of a large imperial library.

Or, you may find yourself with a dubious prince, with a dubious beard.

So you may ask yourself, “Huh, how did I get here?”

It was the book. The book found you as it found us all. But what was the book?

Was it some needlepoint mathematics in a Toblerone box, or Foundation and Empire?

It could have been The Zen of Positronic Robots by Sunmaster 74, or even How to Subjugate the Galaxy On Less Than 30 Altairian Dollars a Day by Magnifico Giganticus!

It almost certainly wasn’t The Sensuous Dirty Old Man by Dr. A.

So join us! Come along for the ride as we discuss what we’re calling “Possibly the best episode of season three so far!” You’ll be glad you did!

Stars End S6E03

The featured image for S6E03 "Shadows in the Podcast."

In which we talk about Foundation S3E02, “Shadows in the Math.”

“Shadows in the Podcast”

Spoiler Alert! You know what to do!

The pieces are starting to fall into place!

S3E02 begins with a brief review of how the Second Foundation has evolved over the past 150 years! We see the Mule trying to consolidate power on Kalgan and get to meet Torin and Bayta! Meanwhile, the Cleons each seem to be going off the rails in their own, wildly diverging directions!

We talk about it. Do we make sense of it all? There are still a lot more questions than answers!

Plus, our first Laura Burn! Don’t miss it!

And don’t forget to join the conversation at ⁠r/StarsEndPodcast⁠ on Reddit!

Let’s GO!

Here’s the link to the Episode on Apple Podcasts: Shadows in the Podcast

Stars End S6E02

Kalganian ships fire at each other.

In which we discuss Apple TV+’s Foundation, S3E01, “A Song For The End of Everything.”

“A Podcast for the End of Everything”

Now we’re into the meat of our new, even-numbered season as we finally have a real teevee episode to talk about! As always, this way lies spoilers. If you care about such things, get thee to the platform! We’ll be here when you’re ready!

The premier is dense, and it’s a barn-burner! We welcome the return of friend of the podcast, Alexander Siddig! We recognize Brothers Dawn and Dusk, but we’re not sure what we should call the other guy. Is Demerzel having a mid-life crisis? Is that guy really the Mule? Where’s Bayta? What are these new games? And what is it with the name “Han,” anyway?

So we have questions! Do we have answers? Tune in and see! Let’s GO!

Stars End S6E01

A screen cap from the season 3 trailer.

We preview season 3 of Foundation on Apple TV+ and make some announcements!

“I Can Worm My Way Into People’s Podcasts.”

It’s an even-numbered season of the Stars End podcast! You know what that means! Our Second Interregnum has come to a close! The big news, of which you’re already, no doubt, aware, is the return of Foundation to Apple TV+! New episodes are officially set to appear in a mere 65 hours or so! We’re here and we’re ready! We’re going to watch ’em! We’re gonna talk about ’em! It’s why we came together as a podcast to begin with!

There’s still some of Season 5 in Post-Production. We’ll get that out in parallel with season 6!

And we had a question from a listener about whether we have a forum where those interested could find the three of us. Our Twitter account used to serve that purpose, but you know we’ve mostly evacuated from that cesspool. We’ve established a new beachhead on Reddit, and all three of us can now be found at r/StarsEndPodcast!

Here are the “official teaser” that came out a few weeks ago,

…and the official trailer!

Stars End S5E21

In this episode, we continue to drift along The Currents of Space, floating into chapters 7 through 12. This almost coincides with the second installment in Astounding Science Fiction for November 1952 (Chapter 7 was published in October).

The Cover of the Signet paperback edition of "The Currents of Space" by Isaac Asimov. The cover illustration shows Rik and Velona rushing across the spaceport.

“Ninety-Five Percent of the Universe is Hydrogen, and Most of the Rest is Podcasts.”

This is the middle section of Asimov’s middle Galactic Empire Novel (in-universe chronologically, that is). The middle layer of a current is called the laminar flow. It flows somewhat faster than the currents near the water’s surface or the riverbed. We’ll leave it to you to decide if this part of the novel flows better or more quickly than the rest of the book.

A lot is going on. Rik is regaining his memories and remembering the world of Spacioanalytics, the Five Great Squires are being blackmailed, Rik and Velona escape into space only to be forced into a room to discuss things with Lady Samia of Fife in classic Asimovian style and the Townsman embarks on a spree of killing and craziness that paradoxically culminates in his being stuck on a ship that he can’t pilot.

Check out the chapters, then join us for the conversation! Let’s GO!

Picture Credits:

Next Time on Stars End

Guess what? It’s Season 5 Episode 21! VERY soon!

The cover of the November 1952 issue of Astounding Science Fiction. It depicts a rocket ship on a barren moon with a planet in the background against a dark sky.

But first, it’s been a while; we’ve missed you, and we hope you feel the same. I’ve said it before: having a day job is no fun. And that’s the crux of it; we got bogged down with work, and the post-production got away from us.

That’s especially true in my case. Turns out that the parts of my brain that I podcast and/or blog with overlap with the bits of my brain that I use in teaching.

Plus Jon and I are trying our hand at a politics podcast.

The good news is that there’s lots of stuff on its way! Immediately, we’re gearing up for season 3 of the Foundation teevee series! We took a quick look at the trailer, and that will be out pretty soon after S5E21!

There’s a lot more in the can, and we’ll try to clear some of the backlog before we dive into Season Six of Stars End!

So, refresh your memory of chapters 7 through 12 of The Currents of Space, and enjoy the art from the November 1952 issue of Astounding Science Fiction by H. R. van Dongen that you can find below! Then join us for our next episode!

The opening page of "The Currents of Space" by Isaac Asimov in the November 1952 issue of Astounding Science Fiction. Art by H. R. van Dongen. The page contains the title author and some opening text. There is a framing image showing a field of stars, an Earthlike planet and the faces of Rik and Valona.
A portrait of Lady Samia of Fife from "The Currents of Space" by Isaac Asimov in the November 1952 issue of Astounding Science Fiction. Art by H. R. van Dongen.
The Squire of Fife from "The Currents of Space" by Isaac Asimov in the November 1952 issue of Astounding Science Fiction. Art by H. R. van Dongen.
The Townman takes a respite in a family home in "The Currents of Space" by Isaac Asimov in the November 1952 issue of Astounding Science Fiction. Art by H. R. van Dongen.
The Townman destroys the evidence in "The Currents of Space" by Isaac Asimov in the November 1952 issue of Astounding Science Fiction. Art by H. R. van Dongen.

Resources

Stars End S5E20

We start Asimov’s third (or second) Galactic Empire Novel, The Currents of Space, by discussing chapters 1 through 6. This nearly corresponds to the first installment published in the October 1952 issue of Astounding Science Fiction which covered 1 through 7.

“I remember my Podcast. I had a Podcast!”

A friend tells me that our episodes are better when we’re enjoying the stuff that we’re reading.

We certainly enjoy reading The Stars End Mail Bag! This time when we opened it up, it inspired a short conversation about My Living Doll starring Julie Newmar and Bob Something-Or-Other.

And we’re liking The Currents of Space so far! It hits the ground running with a threat of planetary destruction and a hero in the mists of amnesia! This is the Good Doctor’s take on race relations in the American South making it a nice companion to The Caves of Steel which tackled the issue in our northern cities. This gave us a lot to think about!

Like, what year was this written? It looks like the answer is actually 1952 and not 1951 like I, Joseph, thought.

We see parallels to three (count ‘em! 3!) Star Trek episodes! But which ones? Not “The Omega Glory,” I’ll tell you that much.

Is Ol’ Isaac reading comic books on the side?

And how does this compare to the other Galactic Empire Novels?

Plus, another round of “Where’s Daneel?“ Have we figured that out yet?

And more! You’ll have to listen to find out! 

Picture Credits:

Stars End S5E19

We conclude our coverage of The Stars Like Dust ―, with chapters 15 through 22. That corresponds to part 3 of Tyrann as published in The March 1951 issue of Galaxy Science Fiction.

The cover of a paperback edition of "The Stars, Like Dust."

“We the People… Do Ordain and Establish this Podcast.”

As we rejoin our heroes The USS Enterprise, trailer firmly attached by tractor beam, is approaching planet Omega 4. There they find the derelict USS Exeter in orbit. Kirk, Spock, McCoy, and Galloway beam over to the Exeter where the entire crew has mysteriously been turned into common rock salt, just like you can buy from any neighborhood hardware store.

No, wait. I’m confused. That’s the “Omega Glory,” S2E23 of Star Trek. I swear, sometimes these Star Trek references just write themselves.

A still from Star Trek: The Omega Glory. Fair Use.

Anyway, the beginning of the episode is actually pretty good, but the ending is very, very dumb. So dumb that it lands it in the “So bad you have to see it to believe it” category. Unfortunately for the episode, people only seem to remember that ending.

To Asimov’s credit, we know that he did not like that ending, Strangely he didn’t like it even some 15 years or so before the episode aired. How does that work? I guess you’ll have to listen to our episode.

Meanwhile, being of a certain age myself, I can’t seem to get this little earworm out of my head.

Let’s all sing along! “Ee Plannista, enor durtofo amo orper fectyoo nion…” Everybody!!

Stars End S5E18

And now we settle in for the second part of the Good Doctor’s second novel! Join us as we dust The Stars, Like Dust— with commentary like powdered sugar on a doughnut! Let’s chat about chapters nine through fourteen!

A 1980s book jacket for The Stars Like Dust—.

“The Podcast Was Located in a Little Niche Just Outside the Cabin”

But first, a quick note: our episode begins with a short tribute to John Jenkins and his wonderful “Spoiler-Laden Guide to Isaac Asimov,” which I typically refer to as the “Asimov Reviews” site. It’s what the internet should be and rarely is. You can read more about that here.

If this novel feels a little non-Asenion for your tastes, this installment might be for you! If you love Golan Treveze or the version of Hari Seldon who inhabits the Foundation Prequels, you’ll like Biron Ferrill better as this installment goes forward. If you think that there is a bit too much buckling and swashing in the first section, there is a bit of action where Biron overpowers a guard, tying him up with a pair of pantyhose. But once Gil and Artemisia help steal a space ship things settle down to storytelling and discussing galactic goings on as opposed to any actual going or actually doing anything story-inspiring. Plus, it’s something that passes for a plot twist!

So, let’s go! Help us bust the stars like dust with the vacuum of space!